Five reasons on why Royal Challengers Bangalore tumble while crossing the last hurdle

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have a plethora of superstars from world cricket in the form of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Mitchell Starc, etc. It’s a franchise that has showered dollars on their players and has played some of the most exciting cricket in the Indian Premier League (IPL), however they fail to cross the last hurdle and make it to the play-offs.

With a side like theirs, a win should only be a formality but the hard fact is that they haven’t qualified to the play-offs in the last three editions and with just five games remaining they are currently placed fifth in the points table.

Their defeat against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Monday can be considered as a ‘choke’ in cricketing terms. Despite of having all ingredients intact the RCB side has disappointed their fans over the years. Suraj Choudhari mentions five possible reasons on why RCB has failed as a unit in the IPL.

1. Lack of planning

The best way to predict a future is to create it. Lack of planning has been one of the pivotal reasons behind RCB’s failure. A plan is always essential for a team to succeed and who better than CSK knows it. The Chennai side has been the most successful IPL unit because their players know their roles and responsibilities on the field.

RCB players don’t seem to be aware of the same and tend to flounder. They seem to go with the flow. For instance, AB de Villiers for first few matches this season batted at no.5 and he is inarguably the best player in the side. De Villiers has an uncanny knack of snatching improbable victories from the imminent jaws of defeat, but he failed to do so as he never got enough time to perform the task.

Because of lack of planning, they panic at end moments. In Daniel Vettori, they have one of the sharpest cricket brains as the Head Coach, so that’s even more baffling. Either they plan poor or just lose the plot while executing.

2. Bank heavily on overseas players

RCB has banked massively on overseas stars to bail them out on most of the occasions. They are heavily reliant on Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Mitchell Starc to win them matches on a consistent basis. When chasing a big score, the side looks at Gayle to provide starts and if he fails, the morale goes down. Their fortunes changed this season, only after the arrival of Starc. Till then they leaked runs.

3.Bowling adversity

Twenty20 (T20) is a game of uncertainties and none of the bowlers can afford to put a foot wrong as they are always under the pump. RCB’s bowling never inspired confidence. In the recent times, domestic bowlers like Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal have bowled well but it’s at Starc they look at to deliver. In crunch situations, a side must have at least two bowlers at their disposal that the skipper can turn to but RCB bowlers don’t seem to inspire that confidence. The equilibrium between the quality of bowlers and batsmen at their command is uneven. On the contrary, they never had an impactful all-rounder. They will hope David Wiese fulfils that role.

4. Failure to absorb pressure and bank on individual brilliance

Kohli is one of the best batsmen in pressure situations and over the years he has proved so in international cricket, so it’s sort of strange that he hasn’t been able to inspire the side with his attributes. While sides like CSK or Mumbai Indians, have a knack of pulling crunch matches in their favour, RCB have more often crumbled under pressure. Another reason is reliance on individual brilliances. At the end of the day, it’s a team game and RCB more often look for their particular in form star to bail them out. A knock-out game demands temperament and persistence and RCB players haven’t done well on that front. In most seasons, they falter in must-win pressure games. They have also made it to the IPL final on two occasions and CLT20 once. They choked on all occasions.

5. Over reliant on home conditions

Over the years, sides like Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and CSK have made use of the home conditions to their best effect. It’s always smart to use home conditions to the side’s best effect but even without qualifying for the play-offs, a side plays half their games away from home and there has to be a strategy in place while playing outside.

RCB rely heavily on their strong batting line-up to do the job in a batting friendly Bangalore. In 2013 season RCB won seven home games and only managed two victories in their away matches.

In the end, it’s about clicking as a unit and RCB are a bunch of strong individuals who haven’t shown their prowess as a team on consistent basis. If they have their bases covered they might probably taste success and win their maiden IPL title in this ongoing season.

(Suraj Choudhari, an avid cricket follower who plays the sport at club level, is a staffer with Criclife)